Scalping is the real game for the Super Bowl

FINE TUNING

January 24, 2006|By Jay Hart Of The Morning Call

If you've ever been to a Super Bowl, you know it's the quietest crowd in sports.

When the NFL doles out tickets for the big game, about 1,000 are made available to the general public. The rest go to those with little or no rooting interest -- coaches, players, owners and corporations -- which has led to a massive scalping business, according to the latest installment of ESPN's "Outside the Lines."

"Eighty-five percent," former cornerback Ray Crockett said when asked what percentage of players sell their tickets.

For the record, OTL is ESPN's only true news program, something host Bob Ley takes much pride in. Since its inception in 1990, Ley, an intellect who intimately understands the conflict between the journalistic and business side of the network, has battled to keep the show on the air.

Sunday's episode revealed the temptation -- read money -- thrown in the faces of those who have something others are willing to pay a high premium for. One part of the report followed a man, working for a broker, as he walked through a convention center where coaches picked up tickets for last year's Final Four. He was eventually found out, as was the head coach for North Platte Community College, who was taken into custody for illegal scalping.

"It's an attack on your senses because people come at you in so many different ways," Saint Joseph's head coach Phil Martelli said. "They know who the coaches are. They wait outside the convention center where we collect our tickets. They're pros. ... I've had people standing there with hundred dollar bills fanned out in front of my face."

Both the NCAA and NFL prohibit selling tickets -- last season the NFL fined Vikings coach Mike Tice $100,000 for scalping his tickets -- but still the practice lives on because, as Playboy editor Jonathan Littman, who has written about the subject, said, "I would love to have Google stock for face price, but we don't get it."

"If Matt Hasselbeck lost today, he'd still be elite," Jackson wondered aloud. "You all are crazy.

"I don't think he's elite, yet. When I think of elite, I think about the John Elways, Joe Montanas, Brett Favres. I'm talking about elite. I think he's on the cusp of -- if he wins the next two games -- well, he's really getting there where you are elite, but you have to do special things in order to be elite."

Did you notice: Fox's Chris Meyers reporting on the heavy hit Carolina running back Nick Goings took, said, "He was hit so hard, they're checking his helmet for damage." When the cameras panned to Goings, no one was checking the helmet resting right next to him.

"They're probably talking about the new 96 car by Texas Instruments," replied Troy Aikman, who happens to own the 96 car along with another former Cowboys quarterback, Roger Staubach.

Ratings game: If the overnight rating for the NFC Championship Game is any indication, ratings for this year's Super Bowl won't be XL. The Fox broadcast drew a 22.0, down 23 percent from last year's game between the Eagles and Falcons.

A journalist's thing: After waking up to hear that Kobe Bryant had scored 81 points, I couldn't wait to see what SportsCenter would lead with -- that or the NFC/AFC Championship Games. I reasoned they should lead with Kobe because two teams qualify for the Super Bowl annually, while scoring 81 points in an NBA game has happened only once before. As it turned out, SportsCenter did lead with Kobe.